The Great Duel
by Ziltoid
Summary: One simple question: who is stronger, Dad or Mum? Only, things never stay simple when Boruto gets involved, do they? Especially not when a certain Nara thinks he can use the whole misunderstanding for his own benefit. Too bad for him.. (oneshot)


**The Great Duel**

* * *

"What wrong Boru-nii? Why are you so ang-ie?"

Boruto looked down, and sighed when he saw his little sister's blue eyes staring up at him with her perpetual curiosity. _'She's started asking questions...There is no escaping now_ ,' Boruto sighed. No matter how much he loved his little sister, a conversation with Uzumaki Himawari was taxing, as it was never limited to just one simple question. Her questions multiplied faster than a group of hyperactive rabbits in spring. _'Kids..._ ' the ten year old scoffed.

"Class was annoying," Boruto decided to admit.

"Why?"

 _'Why always "why"?_ ' Boruto groaned. "Shikadai said that mothers are stronger than fathers."

"Really?" Himawari's blue eyes went wide in amazement. "Why would mama be stronger than papa? Aren't they both the superstrongest?"

"Dunno...Shikidai said that mothers always beat up fathers when the fathers fail to do something. Inojin said that the fathers are the ones who solve the messes the mothers create. Their little squabble ended up in both of them up pestering me with their questions of whether Mum is stronger than Dad," Boruto sighed. "Then Chouchou began ranting about our dad being the strongest shinobi of the village. I still can't believe people think that goofball is so strong..."

"Chou-nee loves talking," Himawari giggled. "Is that why she's such good friends with Sara-nee?"

"Beats me, girls are just weird."

"Meany!" Himawari pouted.

* * *

"Mommy?" Himawari looked pleadingly at her mother, as the latter tucked her in after having finished the story from her daughter's favorite book.

It was bedtime, and Hinata knew from years of experience that this was the time when Himawari had the most questions to ask. Not even once would the child admit that she was tired, no matter how often she yawned. No, if Boruto could stay up, Himawari wanted to stay up too. So she always tried to delay her parents when they brought her to her bed. An endless stream of questions was usually the result.

Luckily for Himawari, Hinata was a very patient woman. "Yes sweetie?"

"Are you stronger than Daddy?"

"Eh?" Hinata blinked, surprised that her daughter would ask such a question. This didn't sound like her at all. No doubt this was one of the things Boruto had said today. "Well, I'm not sure, sweetie. I don't know."

Well, of course Naruto would be far stronger than her, but she didn't think that this would be a topic she'd want to discuss with her daughter right before bedtime. The reasons why he was so much stronger were not easily explained to a child as young as Himawari. Especially not when it came to explaining how 'Kura-chan' could have been the malevolent demon he once was. Himawari would most definitely not believe that.

Hinata still could not fathom why the fox was such a sucker when it came to the children.

"B-but...Mommy always knows everything," Himawari pouted. "Everything!"

"Why don't you challenge Daddy with this, when he gets home tomorrow?"

"Ohh...But I wanna-"

"Sleep tight," she kissed her daughter on her forehead.

"But I'm not-" Himawari interrupted herself with a wide yawn. "-tired at all mommy.."

"I can see that," Hinata whispered. Himawari was fast asleep before Hinata could even close the door of the bedroom.

* * *

"Boru-nii," the blue-haired girl tugged her big brother at his sleeve. She found him sitting in the garden, one of the select few places where the blond boy was actually calm.

"Hima?"

"Mommy said to challenge Daddy, if she is stronger than him or not," Himawari smiled.

"She will?" Boruto frowned. He looked conflicted for a moment, but suddenly jumped up. "Then we need to help her!"

"Eh?" Himawari blinked as her brother ran off. "Why? But…We have to challenge daddy with this question?" she mumbled to herself, confused by her brother's behavior.

Her mother called for her.

Instantly, Himawari had lost track of what she was thinking about, and just shrugged and toddled back inside. She and Mommy would go to the marketplace, same time every week. And Himawari always loved it when her mother treated her to cinnamon rolls. Needless to say, with cinnamon rolls awaiting her, Himawari quickly forgot about her brother misunderstanding her.

* * *

Content, the duo left the store. "Cinnamon rolls are the best!" Himawari smiled brightly. "'Specially when Kurenai-obaachan makes them, she really is a master of rolls!"

"She sure is," Hinata laughed gently. "Kurenai-sensei spoils you two even more than Tsunade-sama does.. Now, shall we buy some vegetables for dinner tonight?"

"Yes! And Daddy will be home today! Are you going to make ramen again?" Himawari begged.

"Your two favorite types of food on the very same day? I don't think that would be a very good idea. I might get worried my little girl would get as round as Tonton."

"But Tonton is cute.."

"Tonton is a little piggy, and you, Himawari, are no piggy, right?"

Himawari vehemently shook her head.

"No, we are going to eat something healthier tonight," Hinata decided, much to her daughter's disappointment, and undoubtedly to Naruto's as well, Hinata thought to herself.

As they walked across the marketplace, Hinata felt a little confused as to why people were looking at her like this. Most of them were whispering something, and Hinata even heard someone utter the word 'fight'. But… _'No, Naruto-kun is merely on a diplomatic mission. He should return from Suna today… he can't have been in a fight, can he?_ ' she worried. Despite the faith she had in her husband, part of her always worried whenever he went out of the village. _'What if-_ '

"Hinata?" Hinata felt someone tapping on her shoulder, and she and her daughter turned towards-

"Tema-baasan!" Himawari jumped forward, oblivious to her mother's concerns.

Somewhat awkwardly the blonde kunoichi, formerly of Sunagakure, patted the little girl on her head. "Is it true?" she asked, looking at Hinata.

"W-what is true?"

"That you're having a fight with Naruto, of course!"

"Eh?" Hinata froze.

"Eh?" Himawari froze too. Although, in her case for different reasons. _'Boru-nii…you didn't tell everyone about...No, that would just be something you'd do, isn't it? You really misunderstood me completely,_ ' the little girl decided that the best course of action, if she wanted to avoid reprimands, was to feign innocence. It always worked, so why not now too? The only one who actually knew how wily she could be was her older brother. And she had more than enough on him to ensure that he would remain quiet about that. "Tema-baasan, why would mommy have to fight daddy?"

"I overheard Kiba, Iruka, my lazy husband, and that loud kid with the blue scarf...The four of them were discussing something about a duel between Naruto and you," Temari frowned.

"Duel? Me? With Naruto?" Hinata stuttered. "Why?"

 _'She doesn't know. Good. Then Boruto kept his end of the bargain. And with Naruto being out to meet Gaara, he's not aware either. I don't want to know what kind of pranks he is going to pull in revenge though,_ ' Temari pinched the bridge of her nose. _'Still, the money is nice. And Shikamaru's crazy schemes do have the bad tendency to work out perfectly.'_

"Apparently, the two of you have a duel tomorrow morning. I thought you'd know about such a thing."

Even without activating her byakugan, Hinata knew something more was going on. "It's my son again, isn't it?"

"I…I do not know," Temari tried to laugh it off, but those lavender eyes seemed to look right through her. Convincing Hinata suddenly didn't seem so easy anymore.

"Tell me the truth." Even Himawari felt a chill running down her tiny spine when Hinata spoke. She knew full well who started this, although…Boruto had misheard her, so she was technically innocent. Right? Still, her mother was scary in these things, and somehow always seemed to know if she or her brother were up to something. Mothers were truly scary in that way.

"Er…I heard they were arranging the arena from the Chunin Exams for your duel," Temari sighed in defeat. She just hoped her acting skills were good enough to pull this off. "You know," Temari tried another tactic: distraction. "Why don't you convince your husband not to use sage mode and his bijuu chakra mode? It would be a fairly even battle if that was the case, right?"

"…"

"Shall we try to keep both our husbands in line this time?" Temari tried. Evasion didn't work, so she decided to use her ace: bribery. "Know what? I'll make sure you both get paid for an A-rank mission, right out of Shikamaru's pocket. After all, he's the one behind this thing, so I might as well let him bleed a little due to it."

Suddenly, the little girl realized what the older blonde was trying to do. "Ohh, I wanna see, I wanna see!" Himawari tugged Hinata's sleeve, trying to attract her mother's attention.

"You want to see me and Daddy fight?"

"But Mommy and Daddy are the strongest!" she hoped her innocent smile would be convincing.

 _'Whatever they're trying to do, I might as well cooperate. Hmm.. If Shikamaru booked the arena, many people will be watching…and gambling_ ,' Hinata smiled. _'That's why she offered us such a payment. Interesting..._ ' Hinata did not smile because of her daughter's begging. No, she smiled because she just had a great idea which she would need to work out into a proper plan. "All right, Temari, as long as we both keep our husbands in line, why not make a little profit out of it?"

"Exactly!" Temari didn't even take a second to consider why Hinata suddenly agreed with such ease. The image of the shy and gentle girl still lingered, and Temari had never taken into account the influence of living with the greatest pranksters of two generations in one house.

* * *

Shikamaru had to struggle to keep his face straight when seeing Naruto's suspicious look. Shizune, on the other hand, couldn't stop snickering, so she quickly fled the office. Naruto sat there, confused, as he saw his assistant leave the room. "What's causing this ruckus in Konoha?"

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru was proud he could keep his voice so calm.

"Everyone keeps looking at me oddly. I mean, more so than usual. And then there's this talk about 'the big day'. What's going on, Shikamaru?"

"Wasn't there some kind of anniversary going on one of these days?"

"Ah! Yes, Ichiraku's anniversary!" Naruto suddenly had a wide goofy grin on his face. "Thanks for reminding me!"

 _'Well, that's lucky. Ah well, with him being clueless, and Temari having convinced Hinata...Things are going as planned,_ ' Shikamaru decided not to enlighten Naruto on the fact that Ichiraku's anniversary was actually next week. No, it would be far better to keep him in the dark, right until the last moment. "Ah, eh, sure. As for the paperwork…"

Leaving the village, and putting all the paperwork on Shikmaru's desk, Naruto had done enough to excuse Shikamaru's desire for a payback. According to Shikamaru, of course. Losing at the hands of his own wife in front of everyone would be something which Shikamaru could use to tease his Hokage for a long while. After all, he was sure Naruto would not be able to fight seriously against Hinata.

On top of everything, Shikamaru didn't want to waste the opportunity to make some good money while he was at it. Duels like these always drew lots of gamblers, as Kakashi had finely added when they discussed the preparations for the duel.

* * *

"DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddy!" Naruto looked down at the hyperactive Himawari who jumped at him.

"Sugar rush?" he asked his wife with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Cinnamon rolls," she smiled, giving her husband a kiss on the cheek, but gasped when he pulled her into a tight embrace, catching Himawari in the middle, who cheered that they were having a family hug again.

"How are my girls?" Naruto kissed his wife back. "I missed you the entire week."

"We missed you too. It's far too quiet without you around. And we're perfectly fine," Hinata knew it would be best if she waited to share the whole 'duel' news until after dinner. Or better yet: after the kids were in their beds. "How were Gaara and Matsuri doing?"

"They are doing fine, despite their…" Naruto suddenly stopped talking, and with a single hand seal, he vanished in puff of smoke.

"There you are!"

Hinata giggled when she heard her son yelp. "Daaad!"

Himawari giggled when she saw her father reappear, holding her brother in a hug, ignoring how the latter struggled to break free. Yes, Boruto was at that special age where any form of affection was considered 'eeew'. Being dragged into a family hug, therefore, was not a hobby of this ten year old boy.

* * *

"She didn't withdraw?" Shikamaru smirked.

"Of course she didn't. It took some persuasion, and the money argument did help, but who really convinced her was her own daughter. Seriously, we have to be careful with that girl. She isn't as innocent as she seems to be."

"Himarwari-chan?"

"Yeah, she will become a prankster too. I saw that same shimmer in her eyes, just like Naruto, and Boruto-kun." Temari sighed. "That girl knew something more about this whole situation, I'm sure of it."

"It was Boruto who came with the idea.. Do you think those two might be working together somehow?"

"Boruto seemed far too genuine for that," Temari frowned. "He was so hyperactive at the mere prospect of this duel."

"He's too young to understand the implications of the Hokage being challenged to a duel."

"Not that Hinata would want to take the position from him. But why did you make me offer them money? It isn't like you to waste money."

"Who do you think is going to charge a low entry fee at the arena?" Shikamaru smirked. "And with the betting pool already set up, mostly to keep Tsunade on board, I'm using those entry fees to cover that. It doesn't matter who wins, as long as the arena is filled to more than eighty percent, we'll have a substantial amount of money left."

"And with the most famous Hokage of all participating…" Temari realized.

"Everyone will put their money on him. Even though people should know that he can't even stomach to lift a finger against his wife. He'd rather let himself be beaten up than harm Hinata. So those who are involved in the plan all bet on Hinata. Easy money."

"It never fails to amaze me how creative you can be due to your own laziness."

* * *

"What was Boruto talking about, that you are definitely stronger than I am?" Naruto asked. The kids were sound asleep, regardless of how often Himawari claimed not to be sleepy, and Hinata was already in bed as well. Naruto yawned as he walked out of the bathroom, and into the main bedroom. "I didn't make you mad, did I?" he looked at his wife, who was reading something familiar.. _'Orange?_ ' he eyed the book cover.

"Eh?"

"Well, if Boruto claims that you are going to beat me up…" Naruto shrugged.

"Y-you didn't do anything wrong," Hinata hesitated.

"Well, what's going on then? Everyone is acting so suspiciously today.."

"The kids asked me which of us was the strongest."

"And…"

"Somehow, it spiraled completely out of control."

"I am not going to like this, am I?" Naruto sighed wearily. "What did Boruto do this time?"

"Tomorrow morning at eleven, in the Chunin Exams arena, we're having a duel," Hinata smiled.

"Oh, it's only a…Wait, what? What? I have to fight against you? The two of us? Duel?"

"Without using sage mode or Kurama's aid," Hinata added. Even though there wasn't an official rule like that, she didn't think it was necessary to make her husband any wiser than needed.

"Ah, I eh...How did this…You're sure about this? Participating, I mean? I wouldn't…Wouldn't want to…To-"

Hinata stepped out of the bed, and Naruto suddenly forgot what he wanted to say. _'That is one hell of a nightdress,_ ' his numbed mind processed the sight.

Hinata smiled seductively. "Oh, they're definitely trying to use us for their own schemes, and after Temari tried to bribe me into agreeing with their plans, I found a nice way to get back at them. At everyone," Hinata purred. "So why don't you get into bed, and just cooperate tomorrow?"

"I-Er…Okay, I guess?" Naruto started to blush a little. "If it's one of your plans, I'm always game."

"I didn't doubt that," Hinata pulled one cord of her dress… "I hope you like this plan, too."

His smile made Hinata blush even more than she already did. It was one reflex she never managed to suppress, no matter how long they were married. Naruto was happy for that, as he thought it made her so irresistibly cute.

* * *

"Did _everyone_ come?" Naruto sighed. He and Hinata look at the arena, where literally ever seat was taken. People were still entering the stands. Both Naruto and Hinata, in their respective uniforms, combat ready, stood at the floor of the arena. Well, Naruto left his hat at the office. That thing just wasn't practical in battle.

"Seems like it..."

"Baa-chan is looking after the kids, right?"

"Shizune-san is with her. I thought that would be best, considering…"

"Yeah, if there's a betting pool, like you said, then we know where Baa-chan will be," he chuckled.

"You didn't warn her, did you?"

"I told her often enough that gambling is a bad habit," Naruto smirked. "Besides, if Shikamaru set this all up, she is probably included in his schemes as well. You ready? Wow, Shikamaru even got Kakashi-sensei as referee. They really went overboard, didn't they?" he couldn't help but laugh. "They're all going to be so pissed!"

"But before that, we will give them a good show," Hinata smirked back at her husband. "The more thrilled they get, the more money they will bet."

"I love it when you get mischievous like this," Naruto gave her a peck on the cheek. "We should do this more often…Now, let's show those fools how dangerous it is to underestimate you."

* * *

"Tsu-baachan, will Daddy win? Or Mommy?" Himawari looked up at the Senju. The two kids were flanked by the former Hokage and Shizune, calmly watching from the kage booth. Boruto was pretty proud of himself at the moment, as he was sitting in his father's seat.

"The odds are in your dad's favor, Hima-chan."

"Yeah right, until Mum shows them all how wrong they are," Boruto scoffed. "GO MUM, KICK HIS ASS!"

Tsunade smiled at the sight of the young blond. _'Exactly like his dad, even down to his rebellious nature. Though this brat certainly needs to learn a lesson or two about the harsh reality of the world, which is completely unlike his dad...Then again, that's exactly what we all fought for, to give the next generation a carefree life.'_

"Baa-chan, who did you bet your money on?" Himawari murmured.

"Your dad always was weak when it comes to your mother, so I bet on her. He can't fight her seriously, while she knows she doesn't need to hold back against him. She knows he can take whatever she would throw at him."

"Is Daddy that much stronger?"

"He won a war for us," Tsunade shrugged. "I dare say that even the Rokudaime and I together wouldn't be enough to make him break a sweat if he actually got serious."

Thirty minutes later, Tsunade wasn't so calm.

Apparently, Naruto did know how to fight back. Sure, he pulled his punches, barely even touching his wife, and the aim of his jutsu was always a bit off, exactly enough for her to dodge in the nick of time. But still...To the untrained eye, he did seem to fight back seriously. But without sage mode or the power of the bijuu, he was not that much stronger or faster. And Tsunade knew the with Hinata's mastery of the juken, there was still a chance of her winning. At least, if she did not run out of chakra first, as she had not been conserving chakra so far, using several bigger attacks against her husband.

Hinata paralyzing his right arm with her juken was only a further illustration of her skill and agility. _'I remember the shy little girl I met when I just became Godaime…She really grew a lot since that day. Though she was able to knock the gaki out with a single headbutt back then.'_

But even with one arm, Naruto was more than a match for his wife. Not that Tsunade could see the entire match. The further the match progressed, the busier she was with the little tyke who tried to shut out the world by pressing her face into Tsunade green haori. Or practically crawl underneath it.

Little Himawari didn't like seeing her parents duel at all. The idea was fun, initially, but that was mostly because Himawari had no clue about what a duel really was. Tsunade pitied the whimpering child, but she and Shizune had warned her that this would happen. Unfortunately, this youngest child had inherited her father's stubbornness, which was quite a contradiction to the gentle attitude she had gained from her mother.

 _'Too stubborn to admit that she hates to see people fight...Typical_ ,' Tsunade ruffled the girl's blue hair in an attempt to comfort her a little.

* * *

"Woah, you're using the Juho Soshiken again?" Naruto narrowly dodged his wife's chakra-clad palm. "Don't exhaust yourself too much, honey."

"We should at least convince them that we are serious. So don't hold back too much."

"You know I don't underestimate you. I know how much you improved your stamina," Naruto smirked. "Our endurance training does help, doesn't it?" Hinata blushed, but chose to attack rather than to reply to the thinly-veiled flirting.

After a flurry of blows, Naruto felt the two guardian lion-shaped shrouds drain him of his chakra, even though he avoided the more essential tenketsu getting closed.

 _'She actually does get pretty close, too close for comfort actually..'_

 **"You're rusty,"** Kurama chuckled. **"You should have these kinds of fights more often. It might keep you in shape, lazy human. Though I would enjoy it if you lost to your vixen in front of the entire village."**

'Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate you being here, Kurama?'

 **"Tsk. You'll never stop doing that, will you?"**

'Who was the one who let Himawari sleep on top of his head?' Naruto snickered inwardly.

 **"You're just jealous that you aren't as cute as-"**

'Hah, you finally admit that you're a big softy!'

 **"…"**

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata felt a little confused seeing her husband laugh all of a sudden.

"Score one for Naruto the genius Hokage, score zero for Kurama the pillow-fox," Naruto grinned. "Shall we put this to an end? I think that by now everyone's wallet is empty, don't you agree?"

Hinata smirked. "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

Sixty-four times, Hinata hit a log. Poor log. It had just been an innocent tree, until Naruto suddenly ripped it out of its peaceful existence…In a cloud of smoke and splinters, Naruto reappeared. "Woah! That was really close!"

"You were distracted, so I thought there was an opening...But I'm out of chakra now," Hinata admitted. She had enjoyed this little game, despite knowing that Naruto felt horrified by the mere idea that he might hurt her.

"Then I'd better finish this quickly," Naruto rushed forward and…

Embraced his wife.

He noticed that Kakashi's eye twitched. Naruto suspected that his old sensei already knew what would follow.

* * *

"Woah! I thought Mum had him!"

"Almost, Boruto-kun, almost," Shizune grabbed him by his shoulders. She didn't want him tumbling over the railing. "But he substituted with that log, just in time."

"But his arm is numb!"

"The girl was close, she just needs a little more and…wait, what are they doing?" Tsunade gasped.

Curiously, Himawari peaked from behind Tsunade's haori. And started giggling. An example which Shizune quickly followed after she saw Tsunade's expression. The sannin just stood there, slack jawed, not believing what she saw.

"EEEEEEWWW! DAAAADD!" Boruto yelled.

Down at the floor, Hinata and Naruto stood there, kissing each other in front of the entire village. Boruto knew he would be the most teased boy of the entire academy now. Not that Himawari cared about such silly things. She just loved seeing that her parents loved each other so much.

* * *

"We forfeit, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto and Hinata said in unison, confirming the man's fears.

 _'It would seem I am not getting as rich as I was hoping. Good thing I spread some of the money over the other options as well,_ ' the Hatake grimaced underneath his mask. "Are you sure? Both of you?"

"We don't think of each other as any less that the other's equal," Hinata smiled, enjoyed by still seeing the twitching eye of the usually laid back ex-kage.

"Hinata-chan is definitely smarter though," Naruto laughed.

"…then this duel ends in a draw. Both Nanadaime-sama and Uzumaki-sama withdrew from the fight at the same time," Kakashi announced. He cringed when he heard Tsunade scream about the ridiculous amount of money she just lost.

"You two planned this all out, didn't you?" Kakashi whispered.

"We might have," Hinata smirked. "But you people put us in this position."

"And not even Shikamaru considered to think about why you agreed so easily," Kakashi just shook his head and decided to flee. He knew without a doubt that everyone in the village would be after him now, contesting the outcome of the duel. Seeing the twinkle in Naruto's bright blue eyes, he knew even that was planned out.

"Go to training ground forty-four, sensei, to the central building. I already made sure the supplies on the second floor were restocked this morning."

Watching the grey-haired man speed away, Hinata leaned towards Naruto. "Did it work?"

Looking up, left of the kage booth, Naruto saw a blonde woman put her thumbs up. "It did."

"No one knows?"

"My clone masked its chakra signature, used the Sexy Jutsu, put on clothes, and concealed its whiskers," Naruto smirked, looking up at his kage bunshin who was hiding in plain sight. "Nobody suspected that it was me who placed several bets. Well, her, actually. Or is it him? Dammit, it always confuses me what I should call my clones when they do the Sexy Jutsu.."

Hinata couldn't help but giggle upon seeing her scatterbrained husband in action.

"You still plan to put some the money we made today in the celebration of Ichiraku's anniversary?"

"Hell yes," Naruto tried to punch one of his fists into the air, but grimaced. "You really did a number on me."

"S-sorry, but-"

"Ehh, don't worry about it. Kurama is already fixing it. Though I suppose I shouldn't have teased him, he usually works faster," Naruto smirked. "But I guess it would be fair to use the money we gained for public goals. It's not like we got it in a really honest way, after all."

"The hospital and the academy?"

"Those are good goals too," Naruto nodded. Ramen came first, of course. But he knew Sakura would be happy with some support for her clinic as well. "Seems like our greatest supporters are inbound," he pointed behind Hinata.

Jumping down, Tsunade and Shizune carried the children. The little blunette girl flew straight into her father's arms. He was the only one with visible injuries after all. "There there," he patted the distraught girl on the head. "It's all good now, see?"

"Sorry Daddy...I shouldn't have asked Mommy to do this...I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. You haven't entered the academy yet, right?" the blond smiled and hugged his daughter. Meanwhile, Tsunade rushed away, trying to retrieve the referee in order to 'sort things out'. Shizune was left behind, laughing awkwardly at her boss and his wife.

"We knew, Shizune-san," Hinata clarified. "It wasn't hard to figure out who this young man would go to first, if he wanted a suitable place for a duel." Boruto had the decency to look sheepishly.

"It was less messy then the usual paint-pranks," Shizune suggested.

"But why didn't you beat dad?" Boruto suddenly exclaimed. "You had him on the ropes!"

"Uzumaki Boruto, did you not pay attention at all?"

"Of course I watched carefully, Mum!" the small blond blinked in confusion.

"Then you would have seen that I wasn't winning."

"But you had dad's arm, and those lion thingies hit his chest, and-" he was cut off when Shizune laughed.

"Your old man can take a lot more than a few juken strikes," Naruto boasted. Although his tenant immediately made fun of him for not being able to avoid the aforementioned attacks. "I'm just awesome that way!"

* * *

Shikamaru groaned, much like Boruto had done one day earlier. Unlike the young Uzumaki, who felt embarrassed due to his father's absurdity, Shikamaru was grieving for the amounts of money he had lost. Only a select few people crazy enough to bet on a draw, had gotten filthy rich, but everyone else… Let's just say that Shikamaru was not the most popular person in Konoha right now.

Unfair, in his opinion, as he hadn't been the one to throw the match, nor the one who had declared the match to have ended in a draw. In fact, Kakashi still remained hidden. He'd probably stay hidden, too, at least as long as Tsunade's rage lasted. It was the best option for him, really.

Hinata and Naruto had made fools out of them all. And to add insult to injury, he now had to pay them both an A-rank mission's worth of salary as well. This had been no issue when he had been under the assumption that there would be a lot of money left from the betting pool and the entrance fees, but right now, he had to pay out of his own pockets. Not a hobby of the Nara. At all.

"Good morning, Shikamaru," Naruto smiled. "I understand my wife was promised some payment in return for yesterday's charade?"

"It's on your desk," the Nara grumbled. "I bet your son isn't satisfied with the outcome.."

"Nah, Hinata gave him a good scare when he asked me how it felt to have your arm paralyzed."

"She didn't-"

"He was running before she even had channeled a drop of chakra. Apparently, he gained a lot of respect for his mother's Juken."

"Troublesome blondes…"

"The one who outsmarted you wasn't blond," Naruto snickered. "Just count yourself lucky that she doesn't want to participate in the shogi championships next month."

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

I hope you enjoyed my second oneshot! I wrote this short story as my entry for the "NaruHina Fanclub's "Whatever Feels Right" Fanworks Contest" on NarutoForums.

The whole childish idea of 'who is stronger' is based on something I overhead my cousin's kid talk about something he and his classmates had been fighting about. Kids and their silly disputes.. But I felt like this was a perfect starting point for Hinata to subtly make everyone pay (literally) for blowing up Boruto's innocent question to these proportions. Their fault, for underestimating Hinata!

Credits to my anonymous beta, who took over while my usual beta Illuminated is enjoying his well-deserved vacation! The cover image was made by Reiko-akire, and can be found on reiko-akire . deviant art . c _ o _ m / art / Okaeri-Naruto-kun-Naruto-and-Hinata-Fan-Art-533204771. I've put the link on my profile page, for your convenience! Check it out, so you can see it in its full glory!

 **Edit** : _for some weird reason the cover image keeps disappearing. Not sure why, perhaps its another of this site's bugs._ -_-

Anyway, I hope you liked my little story, if so: please leave a review. And check out my other stories!

-Ziltoid-


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